NetApp has announced a series of enhancements to its FAS unified storage architecture system. This includes a new solution for the lower part of the midsize enterprise space, the FAS2040 storage system. The company also announced significant price reductions for its FAS2020 systems and associated software. And it announced a significant reduction in FAS2020 SKUs, which it says will make it easier for the channel to do business with NetApp, by making it easier to order and configure the systems.

"We have made some significant changes," said Todd Palmer, vice president Americas channel sales at NetApp. "We are launching a new product in our FAS2000 product line. We have dramatically reduced the number of SKUs, and we have dramatically changed the pricing."

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Palmer said the new solution, the FAS2040, is part of a comprehensive modification of their product line to tackle more explicitly each of the segments NetApp defines in the MSE space: low-end users with 100-300 employees and deal sizes under $50,000; midrange customers with 300-600 employees and deals in the $50,000-$150,000 range; and high-end customers with 600-1000 employees and deals in the $150,000-$300,000 range.

The FAS2040 provides customers with double the performance of any existing FAS2000 storage system and increased storage capacity of up to 30%. NetApp says this makes it ideal for handling workloads in Microsoft Windows consolidation and virtualized environments.

"The 2040 offers industry-leading price performance at the low end," said Bharat Badrinath, Director, NAS Solutions at NetApp. "It takes entry-level price performance to a new level, offers configurability, and also has the ability to move to Data ONTAP 8." He said that it doubles the performance of the existing FAS2050, although the fact that the 2050 is expandable, while the 2040 (and 2020) are 2U form factors, will continue to make it attractive to those segments of the market that need expandability at the low end.

Cutting the price and SKUs for the FAS2020 is also part of this strategy.

"The FAS2020 is tailor-made for the middle and low-end segments," Palmer said. "We have cut it from 45 SKUs to 7, to make it much easier to order and configure." NetApp says this streamlined approach will enable distributors and VARs to increase operational efficiencies and further drive revenue. Combined with the FAS2020's enhanced multiprotocol support, including CIFS and NFS, its' extensive solution set, and a price point starting at $7,920, it will provide partners with the ability to sell to a broader set of customers and present new opportunities for providing added value to those customers.

The FAS2020 and FAS2040 are available immediately.

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